


blood will run red

by chaosthecreator



Category: Warrior Cats - Fandom
Genre: ThunderClan, alright pog, just know this is an au where redtail joins bloodclan instead of being killed, these tags are gonna be updated as it goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 12:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29733564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosthecreator/pseuds/chaosthecreator
Summary: there will be a proper summary at some point i PROMISE you but i'm posting this at midnight and i can't think of ANYTHING anyway tigerclaw pussies out of killing redtail and now redtail is stuck with barley hoping thunderclan will sort it's shit out but we all know that they ~don't~ so redtail decides to join scourge's emo band at some point
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	blood will run red

Redtail barely knew what was happening until he heard the sickening crunching sound coming from his skull as it was smashed into the Sunningrocks. He curled back his lips into a snarl, his eyes whipping around wildly to see what stars damned Riverclan warrior was currently holding him against the rock. His claws scrambled against the ground, trying to find some sort of leverage that would help him jump up and face his attacker. Yet he completely froze when he saw who it was.  
“...Tigerclaw?”  
Redtail could barely recognize Tigerclaw - his _clanmate_ \- in the low light. But Tigerclaw’s large build and scent was all that Redtail needed to recognize who he was.  
He stared for a little longer then went back to trying to scramble to a standing point. “What are you _doing_ we’re retreating, we can’t _stay here-_ ”  
“You’re not coming back to Thunderclan,” Tigerclaw growled. Redtail’s stare turned into a furious glare and he returned to his desperate scramble.  
“Let _go of me-_ ”  
Redtail suddenly felt a searing pain on his head as teeth tore into his ear. The smell of his own blood flooded his nose and dripped into his eyes. The weight of Tigerclaw’s paw was suddenly lifted and he heard him whisper in what was left of his ear.  
“If I see you or even _smell_ you in Thunderclan territory, I will kill you _myself_ ,” Tigerclaw hissed. He dug his claws into Redtail’s back and threw him to the side. Redtail had barely registered what had happened but all he knew was that he had to _run._  
He stood up shakily and started walking along the side of the river, slowly regaining his bearings to start running. He could barely hear the rushing of the river, all he heard was the sound of his own heart beating in his ears - _ear_ \- and Tigerclaw’s threat.  
_How could he do this? How could I just run in fear? I’m betraying my clan. I need to go back. Who knows what Tigerclaw might do now that I’m not there. I need to go back._  
Redtail kept running. 

Redtail slowly blinked his eyes open, an unfamiliar smell flooding his nose. He raised his head, and let out a hiss when his ear- _missing_ ear burned in pain.  
“Y’really took a beating back there,”  
Redtail turned his head to whoever had spoken, curling his lip back in a snarl. But once his vision was less blurry, he replaced the snarl with a look of confusion.  
“...Barley? How did you-”  
“Y’passed out right outside the barn,” Barley explained, walking over to the clan cat to sit next to him. “Y’sure ran a long way. Did Bluestar send you?”  
“Bluestar? No- no, I was…” Redtail’s expression slowly turned sour as he remembered the events of the previous night. “...Chased out.” Barley’s face lit up with surprise.  
“Chased out? By who?” He asked.  
“A warrior named Tigerclaw. I thought I could trust him. He's _family_ and yet he...” Redtail trailed off.  
“That must be real hard on ya. To be chased out by one of your own clanmates,” Barley said, his head dipped slightly to show respect to Redtail. “Maybe once you’re all healed up, y’can go back and explain the situation-”  
“No,” Redtail said. Barley tilted his head.  
“No?”  
“Tigerclaw, he- he said he would kill me. And who knows what he would do if he found out the rest of the clan found out what he did,” Redtail shook his head. “No, I can’t go back, I- I would be putting my clan in danger,”  
“Wouldn’t they be in even more danger if they had a traitor among their ranks?” Barley questioned.  
“They’ll- they can figure it out. Bluestar’s a _good_ leader. She’ll be able to see when there’s something wrong,” Redtail assured.  
“Alright, and even then, what do y’expect to do after that? ‘Cause I’m assuming y’didn’t exactly have time to tell someone where you’d be going,” Barley said.  
“News travels fast. Once I hear word of Tigerclaw being banished from the clan, I’ll know I can go back home safely,” Redtail explained. Barley blinked.  
He blinked again.  
Then he nodded with a small chuckle.  
“Y’have a lot of faith in y’clan, Redtail,” Barley said, standing up and stretching.  
“I trust my clan, and they trust me. I’m completely positive they’ll know something is wrong soon enough. I just have to wait,” Redtail’s ear flicked. “Where are you going?”  
“Y’must be hungry. Going to get us breakfast,” Barley explained, already walking away. “Make sure not to move y’head too much. Might fuck up what I’ve done with it,”  
…  
Redtail moved his paw up to touch-  
“And don’t touch it either,”  
Redtail moved his paw back down in front of him.

**Author's Note:**

> hi hello so i have a lot of thoughts behind this au that will obviously eventually be revealed over the course of this story but if you have any questions about the au and what i have planned, my tumblr is yaboijakie. alright cool hope you enjoyed (also sorry that the chapter is so short i promise they'll be longer in the future).


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